South Dakota House Bill 1176  Seeks to Reclassify Equine Dentistry

A bill that would change the face of equine veterinary medicine in South Dakota is working its way through the legislature. As of Feb. 13, the proposed bill has passed through the House of Representatives and awaits a hearing in the Senate Ag and Natural Resources Committee early next week.

House Bill 1176 proposes to reclassify equine dentistry as separate from the practice of veterinary medicine. If approved, this bill would permit “those who engage in the removal of equine enamel points, smoothing, contouring, and leveling of equine dental arcades and incisors, and the removal of equine deciduous and mobile teeth, with handheld or motorized equipment” to do so without any form of official certification. While the bill initially proposed to permit non-veterinarians who were certified in equine dentistry by the International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED) to practice without veterinarian supervision, the amended form makes no such specifications.

Numerous veterinarians have expressed their dissatisfaction with this bill. Dr. Nichole Logan, DVM PLLC, an equine reproductive specialist and relief veterinarian in Rapid City has some concerns. Although there is a shortage of equine veterinarians in the state, she doesn’t believe that opening up the option for anyone to practice dentistry will be beneficial. Her main concern regards sedation and medication of the patients. Currently, South Dakota law permits only licensed veterinarians to sedate horses. There are no over-the-counter anesthetics available and many can only be used in the presence of a licensed veterinarian. Very little dental work can be done on horses without the use of sedation, yet the bill does not address this. “Proper floating has to be done with sedation,” said Dr. Logan. “They are prey animals. They need to be able to relax.” Dr. Logan is worried that this will negatively impact the horses needing these dental procedures done, but is concerned for the owners of the horses as well.

In South Dakota, veterinarians are subject to regulation by the South Dakota Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and animal owners can take legal recourse for malpractice through this organization. Non-veterinarians (including both certified and non-certified equine dentists) are not covered by this board and any legal actions would have to be done through civil suit. Her biggest worry is the open door for anyone (with or without training and certification) to be able to legally practice this very technical medicine. “The way the bill was amended on the floor reworded it such that literally anyone can perform equine dentistry. Hairdressers have to have a license to practice cosmetology, so why wouldn’t equine dentistry be protected by licensure?”

Dr. Elizabeth Boos, DVM, feels the same way. Formerly a resident of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, she now practices at the Animal Medical Center of Wyoming in Gillette. She has worked in every aspect of equine care from dentistry to reproduction and is concerned about the implications this bill will have for these animals and their owners alike. While she believes the bill started out with good intentions attempting to address the shortage of equine veterinarians in the state, the amendments to the bill have left much to be desired in its execution. “I think this is an unfortunate situation where it doesn’t seem that the South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association was approached by the people trying to propose this bill,” she said. “The original intent was to make it that these trained dentists could work with a veterinarian, but that’s not the bill as written now.” Her concern is that this bill opens the door for lay people with limited training to perform equine dental work without the rigorous training that comes with veterinary school or even certification courses. She said that learning how to correctly and safely sedate horses is an important aspect of veterinary school while certification courses may not cover this material to the same extent and non-certified equine dentists may have no education regarding this at all. Like Dr. Logan, she too is worried about the hazy way this bill covers liability. “Who is going to help these horses if they have an adverse event after having their teeth floated?” she asks. Non-veterinarians are not held to the same standards as veterinarians and cannot be sued for malpractice- just taken to civil court.

She does recognize some positives of the bill, though. The potential for having these individuals work with a veterinarian is something that could be talked about and developed into the future, but the bill as it stands now makes no promises and issues no directives for this. “I think that their heart is in the right place. We’re all out here trying to help horses and we all want more options,” she said. But, she also added, “We have licensing boards for a reason. We have to have standards for people that have licenses that are held to a different standard. They’re to protect the public.” She’s also concerned that this bill could cause a rift between veterinarians and non-veterinarian equine specialists. “It feels like we’re turning it into an us vs. them situation.”

Wayne Needham, president of the International Association of Equine Dentistry and a certified equine dentist as well as instructor and has a more favorable view of HB 1176, although he is similarly worried about the potential divide. “In the making of this bill it seems like we’re in opposition to these veterinarians, but we’re actually in very good relations with veterinary medicine. We work with them every day,” he shared. He’s been practicing for nearly two decades and worked closely with the IAED, which has been in existence since the 1980s working to create a standard for people floating teeth and performing other equine dentistry procedures. He said that there is a very high demand for people in this field since so many horses are in need of these services because of the nationwide shortage of equine veterinarians. The IAED has worked for decades to create a standard of practice for the equine dentistry field based on ever-progressing research about these animals and how they function. He said that “[We] try to understand exactly how the mouth works to help these horses process food and live more comfortably in the environment we put them in.” Horses living outside domestic conditions don’t need these services as their teeth are constantly being worn down by tougher, lower quality forage. However, the teeth of domestic horses grow erratically thanks to their higher-quality diet that’s often easier to chew. Because of that, these horses require regular dental services to keep them happy and healthy. That’s why Mr. Needham believes that this bill will be so beneficial to the equine community. “We want to help horses and we want to help horse owners,” he said. He thinks that opening the door to non-veterinarians will allow more horses and owners access to essential services that can otherwise be difficult to come by.

“The thing that certified equine dentists bring to the table is education. Not that we are more educated than veterinarians (because we are not), but we are educated in different ways and with much more focus on functionality. Our goal is to educate the public about equine dentistry and its necessity. The more the horse owner understands, the better care will be given to the horse. It’s equine dentists and veterinarians working together is how South Dakota horse owners win,” he said.

In response to concerns about the use of anesthetics to sedate horses, he stated that they can still receive the required medications to perform necessary dental procedures. “There’s absolutely a legal pathway in South Dakota to receive and administer drugs. The thing I want to make clear is we do not use controlled substances. The thing we use is not controlled and is on the same level as penicillin. It’s still prescribed by a veterinarian.” He believes that this bill will be a great benefit to the equine community, and trusts that the enacted law will function in accordance with its original ideal of making dental care more accessible for the equine community. “With the way the bill is written it’s similar to the Oklahoma model. It would be very similar to the way farrier work is done, but Oklahoma has zero issue when it comes to this kind of work. Competition takes care of itself and the bad ones get weeded out.” With this view in mind, he states that HB 1176 will greatly assist the equine community on the whole. “At the end of the day, it’s really not about the veterinarians, it’s not about the equine dentists, it’s about the horse owner and the horses, and they should have choices.”

Opinions on the bill are divided within the legislature itself. The motion to pass the amended bill last Thursday prevailed by a vote of seven to six. Members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voting “yes” included Representatives Julie Auch, Tim Goodwin, Jana Hunt, Kaley Nolz, Kathy Rice, Spencer Gosch, and Marty Overweg. Representatives voting “no” included Travis Ismay, Trish Ladner, Drew Peterson, Richard Vasgaard, Kevin Van Diepen, and Kadyn Wittman. Representative Hunt presented the bill. Testifying before the committee included Wayne Needham of the IAED from Texas, Bob Griwsold, DVM from Oklahoma, Lyle McKernon of Rapid City, and Zach Rhodes of Reno, all proponents of the bill. Opponents of the bill who testified included Jennifer Stalley of the South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association, Michelle Jensen, DVM, Heather Lerseth-Fliens, DVM, and Mark Braunschmidt, DVM, all from South Dakota. The bill will be heard before the Senate Ag and Natural Resources Committee soon but as of press time has not been added to the agenda. If you’d like to make your opinion heard prior to the vote, you can email the South Dakota legislature at LRC@sdlegislature.gov or call at (605) 773-3251.